1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a latching mechanism for cabinets and, in particular, cabinets used in the storage, warming and preparation of food.
2. Prior Art
Cabinets and the like are, of course, common in food preparation facilities such as kitchens in airplanes, restaurants and fast food establishments. Cabinets and cabinet-like structures are used as cupboards, refrigerators and food warming cabinets. Foods in partially prepared and fully prepared states are constantly being brought in and out of such cabinets. The doors of such cabinets are typically kept in a releasably closed position by latching means, magnetic means or mechanical biasing means. These doors are opened by the manual grasping of a handle, an indentation in the door, or some manual grasping aperture.
Because the prior art cabinets typically require that at least one hand be free in order to open them, the placement of food, which is often contained in bulky and inconvenient carriers, proves to be very difficult. The food is either first set aside while the door is opened or the person placing the food in the carrier must perform a precarious balancing act, that is, placing the bulky food container in one of his hands while opening the cabinet door with his other hand.
A problem of greater consequence involves the cleanliness of the cabinet and its surfaces. The handle means or indentations usually employed tend to form pockets or crevices where dirt and debris accumulate. In the handling and preparation of food, the food preparer and his aids more often than not have remnants of food on their hands when they open up the cabinet doors in placing or removing food therefrom. These remnants collect in the crevices or pockets and, because of their inaccessibility, are difficult to remove during normal cleaning processes. When these food remnants and other debris are exposed to room temperature, bacteria and other micro-organisms thrive in the debris which has accumulated. All too frequently, such bacteria and other micro-organisms are transferred to otherwise untainted food in various stages of preparation. The spoilation of food is accelerated and concurrently so is the build-up of foul odors. Because of the variety of foods which are handled by a food preparer and his staff, the growth of undesirable micro-organisms is enhanced.
As a consequence of the creation of environments favorable to the growth of harmful micro-organisms by the crevices and pockets typically associated with currently used handle means for cabinets, food poisoning and similar ailments may strike consumers. This problem, as well as the accelerated spoilage problem discussed above, can prove fatal to a commercial food preparation establishment.